Gillette is Down $8 Billion After “Toxic Masculinity” Ad Campaign

Gillette enraged millions of Americans in January when they
debuted their new “toxic masculinity” ad campaign, which essentially demonized
American men and the values they internalize. With scornful scenes of boys
play-fighting at a BBQ, wolf-whistling at women as they walk down the street,
and other examples of bad behavior, the commercial ended with the solemn
question: “Is this the best a man can get?”

Many viewers saw the commercial as a ruthless attack on the
company’s primary customer base – i.e., men. Feminists, naturally, said that
the only people who would be offended by the commercial were perpetrators of
toxic masculinity themselves.

Despite the backlash, Gillette doubled down on their
political advertising in May, when they released a commercial showing a transgender
teenager learning to shave. They’ve also spread the wokeness to their female oriented
brands like Venus with ads celebrating obese girls and transgender razor
customers.

None of this pandering has apparently done much for the
company’s bottom line; indeed, they shed $8 billion in worth last quarter.
While it’s impossible to know how much the company’s leftist ad campaigns
contributed to this downfall (Gillette was already struggling with sales), it
certainly doesn’t seem to have helped.

But Gillette CEO and president Gary Coombe is not backing
down. In an interview with Marketing Week, Coombe said that even if the ad
campaign had directly contributed to the brand’s decline, it was “a price worth
paying” to be on the right side of history. We’re sure Procter & Gamble
stockholders are pleased to hear that the company is in such fiscally-responsible
hands.

“It was pretty stark. We were losing share, we were losing
awareness and penetration, and something had to be done,” Coombe said. “So we
decided to take a chance in an emotionally-charged way.

“I don’t enjoy that some people were offended by the film
and upset at the brand as a consequence. That’s not nice and goes against every
ounce of training I’ve had in this industry over a third of a century,” he continued.
“But I am absolutely of the view now that for the majority of people to fall
more deeply in love with today’s brands you have to risk upsetting a small
minority and that’s what we’ve done.”

So he admits that, according to “every ounce of training” he’s
gotten over his time in the industry, it’s generally not a great idea to offend
your customer base with politically-charged advertising. But, since he’s
wrapped up in LiberalThink, he’s determined to just go ahead and do it anyway,
consequences be damned.

We wish Gillette luck with this bizarre new approach to
running a business. Should make for quite the historical lesson in tomorrow’s
college business courses.